Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market started the final session of the week in negative territory, but recent trading has the S&P 500 (+0.5%) and the Nasdaq Composite (+1.0%) in positive territory. The weak start was related to profit-taking after a solid week of gains before buying picked up noticeably in the mega cap space, propelling major indices higher.

Alphabet (GOOG 164.55, +3.11, +1.9%) has been a winner through the entire session after reporting earnings results. Tesla (TSLA 285.29, +25.75, +10.0%) is another big winner, building on its post-earnings rally.

Market breadth is still negative, but margins have narrowed from earlier in the session. Shortly after the open, decliners led advancers by a better than 3-to-2 margin at the NYSE and at the Nasdaq. Now, decliners have an 11-to-10 lead at both the NYSE and at the Nasdaq.

Five of the S&P 500 sectors are higher led by consumer discretionary (+1.7%), technology (+1.4%), and communication services (+1.2%). The consumer staples (-0.8%) and utilities (-0.7%) sectors are among the worst performers, reflecting an ongoing risk-on bias in the market.

The price action in Treasuries, along with this morning's economic data, has contributed to the improvement in the stock market. The final April reading of the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment, which rose to 52.2 (Briefing.com consensus 48.5) from the preliminary reading of 50.8. However, even with that uptick, consumer sentiment remains at levels last seen as the world emerged from the coronavirus pandemic with year-ahead inflation expectations (6.5%) at a level not seen since 1982.

The 10-yr note yield was at 4.31% earlier, but sits at 4.27% now.